diff --git a/lam/lib/xml_parser.inc b/lam/lib/xml_parser.inc
index 707c7cf5..fe529ee5 100644
--- a/lam/lib/xml_parser.inc
+++ b/lam/lib/xml_parser.inc
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class xmlParser {
 	/**
 	 * 
 	 */
-	var $xmlParser;
+	private $xmlParser;
 	
 	/**
 	 * 
@@ -59,9 +59,12 @@ class xmlParser {
 	 */
 	function parse($filename) {
 		if(file_exists($filename)) {
+			$xmlStructure = array();
+			$xmlIndex = array();
 			xml_parse_into_struct($this->xmlParser,implode("\n",file($filename)),$xmlStructure,$xmlIndex);
 			return array($xmlStructure,$xmlIndex);
 		}
+		return array();
 	}
 }
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file